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University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


https://archive.org/details/memorialofmaryfaOOu 


MARY  FAISON  DIXON 

Born  at  Woodlawn,  North  Carolina,  U.  S.  A.,  December 
31,  1853.  Entered  the  Glory  from  Kuling,  China, 
11.55  a.  m.,  Sunday,  August  6,  1922 


C  O 


The  Wife  Who  Always  Helped  and  Never  Hindered 


OF 


MARY  FAISON  DIXON 

Wife  of  Amzi  Clarence  Dixon 

Who  Entered  the  Glory  from  Kuling,  China 
August  6,  1922 


PUBLISHED  BY 

OOD  LITERATURE  DEPARTMENT  OF 
NIVERSITY  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

N.  Charles  and  Greenway,  North  of  Thirty-fourth  Street 
Baltimore,  Md  ,  U.  S.  A. 


WITH  COMPLIMENTS  OF 

(A.  (E.  ^txon 

\ 

REV.  14:  13. 

CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Shadow  and  Light,  by  A.  C.  Dixon .  7 

Letter  from  Mrs.  D.  F.  Stamps .  15 

Address  by  Mrs.  Alice  Elise  Cooper .  24 

Address  by  Miss  Edith  Davis . . .  29 

Address  by  Rev.  D.  F.  Stx\mps .  36 

Address  by  Dr.  A.  C.  Dixon .  42 

Tributes  by  Chinese  Christians .  50 

Extracts  from  Letters  of  Condolence.  .  55 

A  Gift  from  God,  Tribute  by  Mrs.  W.  R. 
Nimmo  . ' .  58 


.  ir.  /V.  V3. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Mary  Faison  Dixon . Frontispiece 

The  Postgraduate . 

Mother  and  Child . 

With  the  Grandchildren . 

God’s  Acre  on  Kuling  Mountain . 

Platform  of  Kuling  Church  At  Memorial 
Service  . 

The  Grave  . 


PAGE 

9 

17 

25 

33 

45 

5T 


A  Sunset  from  Kuling  Mountain 


59 


atib  IGigljt 

By  A.  C.  DIXON 


After  two  of  the  happiest  months  in  a  happy 
married  life  of  more  than  forty  years,  wife  and  1 
were  on  the  Yangtze  river  steamer  en  route  to 
Killing,  to  fill  a  two-weeks’  lecture  engagement 
before  several  missionary  conferences.  At  mid¬ 
night  she  was  taken  suddenly  ill  with  nausea.  I 
was  not  alarmed,  because  I  thought  it  was  an 
attack  of  biliousness  to  which  she  was  subject  at 
times,  and  from  which  she  usually  recovered  in  a 
few  hours.  When  the  boat  reached  Kiukiang, 
where  we  disembarked  for  Killing,  Doctor  Jones 
kindly  took  her  to  his  own  house,  and  was  so  sat¬ 
isfied  with  her  normal  pulse  and  general  condition 
that  he  did  not  even  take  her  temperature.  The 
day  was  the  hottest  we  had  felt  in  China,  but  she 
slept  on  a  sofa  under  a  punka  fan,  as  if  she  were 
resting  well  after  a  sleepless  night.  I  was  think¬ 
ing  of  leaving  her  there  and  going  up  the  moun¬ 
tain  to  Killing,  that  I  might  fill  my  evening  en¬ 
gagement.  But  about  three-thirty  p.  m.  her  fever 


7 


suddenly  rose  to  105°,  and  she  became  uncon¬ 
scious.  Two  Portuguese  nurses  came  from  a 
near-by  hospital,  and  by  skilful  treatment  in  a 
few  minutes  reduced  the  fever  to  103°,  and  so 
restored  consciousness  that  she  could  respond  to 
my  appeal  for  recognition  by  a  gentle  pressure  of 
the  hand.  Doctor  Perkins,  who  was  summoned 
by  Doctor  Jones,  thought  that  it  was  cholera,  as 
cholera  was  prevalent  in  Kiukiang,  and  the  symp¬ 
toms  were  similar  to  those  he  had  been  treating. 
Doctor  Jones  did  not  agree  with  this  diagnosis, 
but  both  of  them  insisted  that  she  should  be  re¬ 
moved  at  once  to  a  hospital  on  the  top  of  Killing 
mountain.  Within  less  than  an  hour  her  body 
was  on  a  stretcher,  carried  by  coolies,  then  on  a 
barge  up  the  river,  then  in  an  automobile  across 
the  plain,  and  again  borne  by  coolies  seven  miles 
up  the  mountain.  The  mountain  air  so  revived 
her  that  she  talked  to  the  nurse  about  the  flowers 
by  the  wayside. 

Next  morning  her  temperature  was  normal, 
and  we  thought  the  worst  was  over,  though  she 
still  seemed  to  be  in  a  semicomatose  condition ; 
but,  when  aroused,  she  was  quite  herself.  I  took 
her  a  beautiful  tiger-lily,  and  told  her  that  it  grew 
wild  in  the  woods.  She  looked  at  it  with  a 
pleased  expression,  as  she  said,  ‘‘  I  want  to  see 
them  in  the  woods,”  and  then  seemed  to  fall 
asleep.  On  Thursday  morning  the  fever  had  re- 


8 


THE  POSTGRADUATE 
In  a  Baltimore  College 


turnecl,  but  still,  when  aroused,  she  was  mentally 
alert  and  we  had  a  little  prayer  together.  Friday 
morning,  I  brought  a  batch  of  letters  from  the 
children,  and,  after  I  had  aroused  her,  asked  if  I 
should  read  them  to  her.  She  looked  at  them 
lovingly  and  said,  ''  Not  now,”  evidently  meaning 
that  she  would  doubtless  be  better  soon,  and  we 
could  enjoy  them  together.  “  Not  now  ”  were  the 
last  words  I  heard  from  her  lips,  for  the  nurse 
recpiested  me  not  to  arouse  her  any  more  that  day, 
and  next  morning,  Saturday,  meningitis  had  de¬ 
veloped,  and  she  was  perfectly  unconscious. 

Sunday  morning  it  was  evident  that  she  was 
almost  home:  and,  as  eleven  o’clock  approached, 
Doctor  Barrie  insisted  that  I  should  go  to  the 
church  and  deliver  my  message  to  the  eleven  hun¬ 
dred  people  who  were  waiting.  Knowing  what 
she  would  wish  me  to  do,  I  went  and,  while  I  was 
preaching,  she  entered  the  glory  at  eleven-fifty- 
five.  During  my  sermon  I  had  at  one  time  such 
a  consciousness  of  her  presence  that  for  a  few 
moments  my  mind  could  rest  only  upon  her,  and 
I  had  to  struggle  back  to  the  line  of  thought  I  was 
pursuing.  Explain  it  as  you  will,  there  has  come 
to  me  the  pleasing  fancy  that  she  asked  the  angel 
who  came  for  her  spirit,  to  let  her  come  by  the 
church  and  give  me  a  final  farewell,  before  going 
to  be  with  the  Lord. 

Idle  Memorial  Service,  with  the  pulpit  and 


platform  covered  with  wildflowers,  which  the 
kind,  sympathetic  missionaries  had  gathered  from 
the  mountainsides,  and  the  loving  words  of  ap¬ 
preciation  spoken  by  Chairman  Wilson,  Mrs. 
Cooper,  Miss  Davis,  and  Mr.  Stamps,  was  like  a 
bit  of  heaven  draped  in  mourning.  There  was, 
at  least,  one  broken-hearted  man  who  sat  there 
in  the  dark  gazing  at  the  stars,  and  looking  to¬ 
ward  the  East  for  the  sunrise,  when  ‘‘  They  that 
sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him.”  To  him 
the  blackest  cloud  that  had  ever  come  into  his  life 
was  spanned  by  the  most  l)eautiful  rainbow  he 
had  ever  seen. 

The  day  of  the  funeral  was  dark  and  threaten¬ 
ing.  The  clouds  covered  the  mountain  and  shut 
off  every  ray  of  the  sun.  But,  as  we  stood  around 
the  grave  beside  the  mound  of  flowers  which 
loving  hands  had  brought,  the  sun  in  the  west 
broke  out,  scattered  the  clouds,  and  gave  us  a 
most  glorious  sunset.  It  looked  as  if  the  colors 
from  the  mound  of  flowers  had  been  caught  up 
and  spread  upon  the  clouds,  multiplied  a  thou¬ 
sandfold,  God’s  bouquet  sent  to  the  funeral  of  the 
one  who  loved  Him  and  every  beautiful  thing  he 
had  made  with  all  her  heart.  As  we  stood  with 
our  faces  bathed  in  the  light  of  this  glory  from 
heaven,  the  Chinese  sang  and  sang  again  in  their 
mother  tongue  The  Sweet  By  and  By.”  Ting 
Li  Mei,  the  Chinese  evangelist,  poured  out  his 


heart  in  prayer;  Mr.  Wilson  led  in  English  to  the 
throne  of  Grace ;  Miss  Flower  sang ; 

Or  if  on  joyful  wing 
Cleaving  the  sky, 

Sun,  moon  and  stars  forgot, 

Upward  I  fly, 

Still  all  my  song  shall  he. 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee. 

Nearer  to  thee. 

And  we  listened  to  the  reading  of  these  words 
of  hope  from  First  Thessalonians  4  :  13-18: 

I  would  not  have  you  ignorant,  brethren,  concerning 
them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not  even  as  others 
which  have  no  hope.  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will 
God  bring  with  him.  For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  that  we  which  are  alive  and  remain 
unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not  go  before  them 
that  are  asleep ;  for  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and 
with  the  trump  of  God  :  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first;  then  we  which  are  alive  and  remain,  shall  be  caught 
up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in 
the  air;  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.  Where¬ 
fore  comfort  one  another  with  these  words. 

My  heart  was  comforted  and  ‘‘  strangely 
warmed,”  as  I  thought  that  before  leaving  this 
mountaintop,  the  Lord  may  come  with  greater 
glory  than  this  setting  sun,  and  the  precious  body 
we  have  covered  with  earth  and  flowers  may  come 
forth  in  resurrection  beauty,  and  the  family  re- 


union  we  had  been  planning  on  our  return  to 
America  may  take  place  with  the  Lord  in  the  air ; 
and  so  shall  we  be  ever  with  the  Lord  ”  and  her. 

On  a  dark  Sunday  morning  in  City  Temple, 
London,  Dr.  Joseph  Parker  said:  “  I  have  been 
in  Switzerland  this  morning,  beholding  the  sun¬ 
rise  from  the  top  of  Mount  Rigi  and  the  sunset 
upon  the  Matterhorn.  Why  should  a  man  live  in 
a  London  fog  when  he  can  live  amid  the  glories 
of  Switzerland  ?  ”  He  had  been  to  Switzerland 
the  summer  before,  and  this  was  his  striking  way 
of  saying  that  the  memory  of  its  glorious  sunrises 
and  sunsets  made  him  forget  the  fog  which  envel¬ 
oped  him  and  his  people  in  London. 

Through  all  the  fogs  of  the  future  I  shall  carry 
in  mind  and  heart  that  Monday  evening,  August 
7,  1922,  when,  as  I  stood  in  “  God’s  Acre  ”  on 
Killing  mountain,  China,  surrounded  by  loving, 
sympathetic  friends,  the  sun  burst  through  the 
clouds,  and  painted  them  in  colors  worthy  of 
heaven,  suggesting  the  Greater  Glory  that  is  to 
come. 


14 


Hfttpr  frnm  Mva,  0.  Iff. 

MISSIONARY  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  BAPTIST 
CONVENTION  AT  CHINKIANG,  CHINA,  TO 
THE  CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  OF  THE 
WOMAN’S  MISSIONARY  UNION 


Kuling,  China,  Aug.  7,  1922. 
My  dear  Miss  Mallory  : 

For  a  long  time  I  have  been  planning  to  write 
you  and  tell  you  something  of  the  work  among 
the  Chinese  women  in  our  station,  Chinkiang, 
but  I  will  wait  till  I  go  back  to  the  station  for 
that.  For  now,  while  spending  my  vacation  in 
Kuling,  I  have  something  different  to  tell  you  that 
I  think  the  women  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
churches  will  be  deeply  interested  in.  On  yester¬ 
day  morning,  here  in  this  lovely  mountain  resort 
in  the  heart  of  China,  Mrs.  Mary  Faison  Dixon, 
wife  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Dixon,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 
The  circumstances  surrounding  her  death  form 
such  a  beautiful  witness  for  Jesus  that  I  am 
writing  you  about  it.  Then,  too,  I  am  sure  that 
Mrs.  Dixon  held  a  large  place  in  the  hearts  of 
the  members  of  the  Ahiman’s  Missionary  Union, 


so  that  they  will  wish  to  know  the  details  of  her 
death. 

Doctor  and  Mrs.  Dixon  landed  in  China  the 
latter  part  of  June,  having  come  out  to  China 
for  a  series  of  conferences  at  several  of  the  for¬ 
eign  summer  resort  places,  under  the  Stuart 
Evangelistic  Fund.  From  Shanghai  they  went 
first  to  North  China  for  a  conference  at  the  sea¬ 
side  resort,  Peiteiho.  On  last  Tuesday  we  ex¬ 
pected  them  to  reach  Kuling  in  time  for  Doctor 
Dixon  to  begin  a  series  of  sermons  here  Wednes¬ 
day  at  the  regular  yearly  Kuling  Conference. 
But  when  they  left  the  boat  at  Kiukiang  (four¬ 
teen  miles  away,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  on 
the  Yangtze  River)  word  came  to  us  that  Mrs. 
Dixon  had  become  suddenly  ill  and  was  unable 
to  come  on  to  Kuling.  The  trip  from  Kiukiang 
to  Kuling  is  made  overland,  seven  miles  by  auto¬ 
mobile,  and  the  last  seven  miles  up  the  mountain 
in  sedan-chairs  carried  by  coolies.  As  Kiukiang, 
down  in  the  plains,  is  extremely  hot  in  the  sum¬ 
mer,  an  effort  was  made  to  bring  Mrs.  Dixon  up 
the  mountain  Wednesday  afternoon;  she  made 
the  trip  on  a  stretcher,  being  unconscious  most  of 
the  way.  After  three  days,  her  illness  was  pro¬ 
nounced  meningitis,  with  serious  complications. 
In  spite  of  the  gravity  of  her  condition.  Doctor 
Dixon  bravely  began  the  conference  Thursday 
morning,  and  continued  during  the  week,  preach- 


MOTHER  AND  CHILD 


n 


r'r' 


X. 


•kt-  •  . 


Ifc^  '■'*  '  ^  T .  -1-^.  ^  "iliv 

f  '  ■  '  ■■  •  V? '’lt;-i*^^  S'*?’ 


S®ia,i.^iM'‘^-.*4^'>>4i  -  '9.  ■-?>■  ".^ 

j^jgHWaana^KBga^- »  --5^*?  .  '  t— '—»*:.- 

•  <SSSHK7j  -•  -  --'  .  'A  f  «  -'X-Vat^-sr.  .  .'>-^-li>>  ;-•* 


»  *  .'  ■•'^  v)'-^  *  V  "  ■*  '" '  _ .''  *’■;«?  ~  . 


?  ♦  V' 


ing  both  morning  and  afternoon  most  powerful 
and  searching  sermons.  Each  day  from  four  to 
five  hundred  missionaries,  who  gathered  to  hear 
him  in  the  foreign  church  building  here,  lingered 
after  the  service  to  pray  that  God  would  lay  his 
healing  hand  upon  Mrs.  Dixon,  that  she  might  be 
spared  for  further  service  for  Him  here.  Some 
of  the  most  beautiful  prayers  I  have  ever  heard 
were  those  that  went  up  to  God  in  those  meetings. 

On  Sunday  morning  her  condition  was  more 
grave  than  ever,  and  we  hardly  hoped  that  Doctor 
Dixon  would  come  before  us.  He  had  announced 
his  Sunday  subject  beforehand  on  “  Why  I  am  a 
Christian  ”  from  an  antichristian  view-point,  and 
the  house  was  packed  with  foreigners  and  Chi¬ 
nese  to  hear  God’s  message. 

As  Doctor  Dixon  entered  the  pulpit,  he  told  us 
that  Mrs.  Dixon’s  greatest  desire  was  to  witness 
for  Christ,  and  that,  if  she  were  conscious  that 
morning,  he  knew  that  she  would  want  him  to 
deliver  God’s  message  that  day,  and  so,  by  God’s 
help,  he  would  preach  to  us  as  he  had  announced. 
I  shall  never  forget  that  sermon — a  wonderful, 
powerful  stand  for  Christ.  In  the  very  midst  of 
such  a  trying  time  he  was  pouring  his  very  soul 
into  the  message.  At  fifteen  minutes  past  twelve 
he  concluded  with  a  beautiful  picture  of  the 
Christian  whose  work  was  over,  lifting  anchor  in 
the  land-locked  harbor  and  sailing  out  into  the 

TO 


full  ocean  of  God’s  love  forever.  And  then  he 
turned  to  the  venerable  leader  of  the  Conference, 
Doctor  Wilson,  to  lead  in  prayer.  As  we  bowed 
(jur  heads,  loving  friends  led  Doctor  Dixon  away, 
and  the  minister  began  to  pray  for  the  loved  ones 
of  her  who  had,  within  the  last  few  minutes, 
lifted  anchor  and  sailed  away  to  God.  Our  hearts 
almost  stood  still  during  that  prayer,  and  I  had  a 
feeling  that  we  were  witnessing  something  that 
was  rare  and  more  beautiful  than  any  experience 
I  had  ever  had  before.  When  the  prayer  was 
ended,  we  were  told  that  Mrs.  Dixon  had  passed 
away  quietly  at  hve  minutes  to  twelve.  Then  Miss 
Flower,  a  missionary  with  a  God-given  voice  of 
beauty,  arose  and  sang  that  victorious  song 
“  Open  the  gates  ”  that  ends  with  that  triumphant 
thrill  “  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.” 

I  have  never  experienced  anything  like  that 
service.  Such  a  powerful  sermon,  and  then,  by 
himself  more  than  by  any  word  or  action,  Doctor 
Dixon’s  beautiful  witness  for  Christ  in  that  try¬ 
ing  hour.  Instead  of  a  grief-stricken  audience,  I 
think  every  one  left  the  church  with  an  uplifted, 
exultant  feeling,  triumphant  over  grief  and  sor¬ 
row,  secure  in  the  glorious  knowledge  that  “  my 
Redeemer  liveth.”  And  since  yesterday,  we  have 
continued  to  feel  that  way,  as  if  we  have  been 
})ermitted  a  closer  insight  into  God’s  power  and 
have  felt  a  wonderful,  soul-stirring  experience. 


20 


1-  hat  afternoon  there  was  held  a  memorial  ser¬ 
vice  for  her  at  the  church.  There  were  three 
people  who  spoke :  Mrs.  Cooper,  of  Killing,  who 
had  known  her  in  England  while  Doctor  Dixon 
was  pastor  of  the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle  in 
London;  a  lady  who  had  been  traveling  with 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Dixon  since  they  landed  in 
China,  and  who  had  come  to  know  her  intimately 
in  the  meetings  out  here  ;  and  Mr.  Stamps  who 
represented  the  Baptists  at  Killing,  and  who  told 
of  Mrs.  Dixon’s  Christian  work  in  America,  espe¬ 
cially  of  her  work  for  missions  and  her  interest 
in  the  beginnings  of  the  Woman’s  Missionary 
Union. 

The  funeral  service  was  held  this  afternoon, 
the  hrst  part  in  the  Killing  Church.  The  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Baptist  Missions  here,  both  Northern 
and  Southern,  had  charge  of  decorating  the 
church.  Such  a  wealth  of  exquisite  wildflowers 
these  mountains  yield  !  In  front  of  a  background 
of  beautiful,  feathery  bamboo,  were  banked  hun¬ 
dreds  of  glorious  flowers,  among  them  the  lovely 
Killing  lilies  that  grow  wild  on  the  hills  here,  but 
are  like  our  beautiful  Easter  lilies  at  home,  white 
and  pure,  on  tall  stalks  four  and  five  feet  high 
with  as  many  as  five  or  six  lilies  on  one  stem.  I 
think  they  must  be  the  same  kind  of  lilies  as  those 
that  Jesus  spoke  of  in  the  Palestine  fields,  more 
beautiful  than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory.  Among 


the  tiowers,  too,  were  the  pale  pink  lotus  flowers 
that  Mrs.  Dixon  had  been  so  much  attracted  to. 

The  transepts  on  either  side  of  the  church  were 
filled  with  Chinese  Christians,  and  the  songs  that 
were  sung  were  in  English  and  Chinese.  After 
a  short  message  by  Doctor  Wilson,  a  Chinese 
minister  made  a  most  beautiful  tribute,  first  in 
Chinese  and  then  in  English.  Then  Doctor 
Dixon,  himself,  calmly  and  quietly,  told  us  some¬ 
thing  of  the  lovely  Christian  character  of  her 
‘‘whom  not  having  seen,  we  loved.”  We  were 
so  glad  to  hear  of  her  beautiful  life,  and  I  think, 
also,  that  it  was  a  comfort  to  Doctor  Dixon,  so 
far  from  his  family  and  loved  ones,  to  speak  of 
her  to  us  since  we  had  not  had  the  joy  of  know¬ 
ing  her.  It  was  surely  a  lasting  example  to  our 
Chinese  friends  of  the  power  of  God  to 
strengthen  and  comfort  his  servants  in  times  of 
sorrow. 

I  wish  you  could  see  the  beautiful  “  God’s 
Acre  ”  here  in  the  mountains  of  Killing  in  the 
heart  of  China,  where  Mrs.  Dixon’s  body  was 
laid  to  rest  on  a  beautiful  hillside,  nearly  four 
thousand  feet  above  sea-level,  facing  the  west  as 
the  sun  was  setting  in  a  glorious  sky,  behind  the 
mountains.  After  Scripture  reading  by  Doctor 
Wilson,  Rev.  Ting  Li  Mei  made  a  most  beautiful 
prayer  in  Chinese,  and  while  the  grave  was  being 
covered  with  flowers,  a  lady  sang  that  one  verse : 


22 


1  here  let  the  way  appeal, 
Steps  unto  heaven  - 


Then  Doctor  Dixon  opened  his  Bible  and  read 
some  verses  from  the  fourth  chapter  of  First 
Thessalonians. 

As  the  day  had  been  cloudy,  we  were  afraid 
that  there  would  not  be  a  pretty  sunset,  but  just 
as  the  service  began  the  western  sky  cleared,  and 
through  a  sudden  little  shower  of  rain  that  lasted 
not  more  than  one  minute,  the  sun  burst  forth  as 
a  smile  through  tears.  From  then  until  the  dark 
came,  the  western  sky  was  gorgeous. 

I  do  not  think  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Dixon  could 
have  brought  a  more  beautiful  message  to  Killing 
or  a  greater  witness  for  Christ  than  this  quiet 
passing  of  a  sweet  and  lovely  woman,  and  the 
marvelous  Christian  strength  and  faith  of  her 
husband  in  his  sorrow. 

As  one  of  the  Chinese  pastors  said,  she  came 
to  minister  to  the  Chinese  and  in  her  death  as 
in  her  life  she  has  indeed  ministered  to  them,  and 
we  will  all,  foreigners  and  Chinese,  hold  this  little 
spot  in  the  heart  of  China  sacred  to  her  memory. 
And  now,  more  than  ever,  will  her  family  and 
her  friends  turn  their  thoughts  to  this  great  land, 
since  it  marks  her  last  resting-place. 


23 


AbJirwa 

By  Mrs.  ALICE  ELISE  COOPER 

Of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  Kuling 


My  friendship  with  Mrs.  Dixon  began  in  En¬ 
gland  during  the  war,  and  during  that  period  of 
the  war  wdien  the  German  air-raids  over  London 
caused  all  who  could  do  so  to  seek  shelter  else¬ 
where.  We  were  both  needing  medical  care,  and 
for  months  we  lived  together  in  the  same  house 
and  sat  side  by  side  at  table  in  a  small  sanatorium 
on  the  Surrey  Hills.  It  was  here  that  I  grew  to 
love  and  admire  the  gracious  Christian  lady  who 
always  put  the  comfort  and  well-being  of  others 
liefore  her  own.  During  those  months  of  conva¬ 
lescence  we  had  many  walks  and  talks  on  the 
hillsides,  and  I  greatly  appreciated  her  hel])ful 
companionshi]),  and  found  much  blessing  in  the 
fellowship  with  so  great  and  beautiful  a  spirit. 

Mrs.  Dixon  was  a  mellowed  Christian,  and  a 
vvide  reader  on  many  subjects  and  a  great  lover 
of  books.  She  had  a  well-balanced  mind,  a  sane 
judgment,  a  broad  outlook  on  life,  and  an  intense 


24 


WITH  THE  GRANDCHILDREN 


h  JM  ^  A  ' 

*■  T  JrwaoW'*^'^  *•  *'fj 

*•  .  "^  '  ,  <ij^5KpHp5  ••^ 

'■'*''&^W^****  ^  •^'  'r  ‘ ''’  t  ■'^  ”*“ 


‘■'X 


- 

■  '-  nw; 


r-C 


^  .  y  '  '  *'  *  ■  *'  C,  --• 

.  -;*^^.  -  .... 

^  .^.  .ii 


.-.  ...  .....  '  ■  I «3;:{^:.r4;M£ 

r*'  *■  .  ‘  ““  i  K  -< 

.'.  .  »  .'  --  ■  »*^ ■•.:-•!  "'^  .  -i  — ~“4-  '5 

•^“  *■  '  -  ‘  ^*  -  ‘^*  W '  •  ■*  ^  **  -  -v  « 

— nVrar"  ■ 


J?-'  “  ».^  . 


i'. 


.  r  ^ 


*-'  "•■*  "'5^  V.  ‘  If'’^ 


'r^  t-  -I 


Cx, 


'  ;SK.  I'*:*  ;:■'*  •. 


' «  -'■  ■"''  1/ V  -  ‘Uw  ‘  j 


..'fv.  - 


'  devotion  to  Jesus  Christ  her  Lord.  My  admira- 
I  tion  of  her  was  sincere  and  I  thought  her  wise 
and  gracious  personality  was  in  every  way  fitted 
:j  to  be  the  wife  of  a  great  pastor.  Her  outstand¬ 
ing  characteristics  seemed  to  me  to  be  humility, 

I  modesty,  and  self-effacement. 

During  her  stay  on  the  Surrey  Hills  Doctor 
Dixon  came  at  intervals,  as  his  strenuous  war- 
I  time  work  at  the  •  Metropolitan  Tabernacle  al- 
,  lowed,  and  even  then  he  spent  much  of  his  brief 
;  visits  working  at  his  desk.  But  she  never  com¬ 
plained  and  never  urged  him  to  stay  longer  with 
her,  always  recognizing  the  urgency  of  the  work 
that  called  him  away.  Once  when  I  sympathized 
with  her  in  the  Doctor’s  absence  she  said,  All 
my  married  life  I  have  helped  where  I  could,  and 
where  I  could  not  I  have  never  hindered.” 

At  the  sanatorium  her  influence  was  most  help¬ 
ful,  and  many  a  troubled  soul  poured  out  its  diffl- 
culties  into  her  sympathetic  ear  and  got  ease  and 
enheartenment  from  her  kindly  and  understand¬ 
ing  counsel.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  after 
my  consultation  with  the  medical  superintendent, 
saying  to  him : 

Doctor  Olsen,  do  you  realize  what  a  blessing 
Mrs.  Dixon  is  in  this  house?  ”  And  he  replied: 
“  Indeed  I  do !  Many  of  the  patients  have  told 
me  of  the  help  she  has  been  to  them.” 

When  we  knew  that  Mrs.  Dixon  was  to  accom- 


27 


pany  her  husband  to  China  and  to  Killing,  we 
looked  forward  with  much  eager  anticipation  to 
the  renewal  of  the  old  fellowship.  But  it  was 
not  to  be,  for  after  only  three  days  in  our  moun¬ 
tain  hospital  here  God  gave  his  beloved  sleep, 
and  this  afternoon  we  are  to  lay  her  to  rest  in  our 
beautiful  God’s  Acre,  looking  up  to  the  temple  in 
the  cloud. 

\Ce  are  glad  to  have  her  here  resting  in  our 
midst,  and  we  send  a  message  of  love  and  sym¬ 
pathy  to  the  daughters  and  the  son  at  home  and 
pray  that  God  will  comfort  the  one  most  sorely 
bereaved,  the  dear  pastor  who  has  brought  us 
such  messages  of  life  these  last  few  days. 


28 


AiiiirpHa 

By  Miss  EDITH  DAVIS 

Coworlcer  in  Evangelism  with  Miss  Ruth  Paxson 

Al)out  four  weeks  ago  I  met  Airs.  Dixon  for 
the  first  time  at  the  Alissionary  Home  in  Shan¬ 
ghai.  We  had  a  mntnal  friend,  and  we  talked 
together  of  her  and  of  her  little  family  of  chil¬ 
dren.  Then  the  conversation  Avent  on  to  mission 
work,  methods,  and  problems,  and  I  found  her 
one  who  was  deeply  interested  not  only  in  the 
ways  and  means  of  work  but  also  in  the  difficul¬ 
ties  which  we  meet  and  in  the  fruit  which  God 
gives.  She  asked  many  cpiestions  and  by  them 
revealed  the  scope  of  her  interest  in  onr  country 
of  China  and  the  depth  of  her  interest  in  the  vic¬ 
tories  of  the  gospel  of  onr  Lord  Jesns  Christ 
among  these  ])eo])le. 

It  \vas  at  this  time  that  ])lans  were  being  made 
for  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Dixon’s  going  to  Chefoo. 
Through  another  ])arty  usurping  the  cabin  re¬ 
served  for  them  on  the  steamer  it  seemed  for  a 


while  that  they  Would  have  to  be  separated  and 
make  the  trip  by  different  boats.  Some  one  was 
deploring  this  with  them,  but  the  cheery  answer 
came  back:  “  We  have  heard  of  missionary  hard¬ 
ships  and  we  haven’t  met  any  yet;  we  will  take 
our  share  and  be  glad  that  both  of  us  can  get  there 
with  only  a  little  time  apart.” 

Three  weeks  ago  Mrs.  Dixon  stood  with  me 
at  the  grave  of  a  little  lad  whose  mother  was  our 
mutual  friend,  and  her  heart  was  poured  out  in 
understanding  sympathy.  A  little  son  God  had 
taken  from  her  one  day  long  ago,  and  she  knew 
how  to  minister  in  love  to  another  sorrowing 
mother.  Her  note  of  sympathy  was  one  that 
brought  comfort. 

Just  a  week  ago  tonight  we  sat  together  in 
the  church  at  Ki  Kungshan  listening  to  Doctor 
Dixon  as  he  preached.  At  the  close  of  the  ser¬ 
vice  she  said  to  me :  “We  must  be  praying  a  great 
deal  for  the  Conferences  in  Killing.  We  don’t 
want  anything  that  will  grieve  the  Spirit.  Mr. 
Dixon  and  I  will  be  praying  a  great  deal.”  To¬ 
night  she  is  with  her  Lord  in  the  Glory  looking 
down  upon  the  men  and  the  women  in  these  Con¬ 
ferences.  Won’t  you  be  praying  with  her  and 
with  the  interceding  Lord  that  his  will  be  done  in 
each  life  here  ? 

All  the  way  from  Pei  Tei  Ho  to  Kiukiang  her 
heart  went  out  to  the  poor,  to  the  suffering,  and 


to  the  burden-bearers.  She  gave  to  the  beggars 
along  the  road.  She  couldn’t  resist  the  appeals 
of  the  little  girl  who  sells  picture-cards  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Summer  Palace  in  Peking  and 
gave  what  was  the  cost  of  a  meal  in  addition 
to  the  price  of  the  cards.  The  faithful  rick- 
shawman  who  helped  her  up  and  down  steps 
at  the  Temple  and  at  the  Altar  of  Heaven 
was  not  forgotten  though  he  was  quite  satis¬ 
fied  with  the  regular  fee  given  him,  and  extra 
was  added  because  of  his  courtesy.  And  the 
rickshawman  who  took  her  through  the  heat  to 
the  Lama  and  Confucian  Temples  was  remem¬ 
bered,  and  she  suggested  that  he  be  given  tea  to 
refresh  him  as  he  waited  for  the  home  trip.  As 
the  train  drew  up  at  stations  and  the  city’s  quota 
of  beggars  followed  along  past  the  cars  wailing, 
l)egging,  motioning  to  lips  and  stomach  as  a  sign 
of  their  hunger,  like  her  Lord  she  was  moved 
with  compassion  for  them.”  All  along  the  way 
she  left  a  trail  of  pennies,  all  that  she  could  do 
for  them,  aside  from  the  prayer  in  her  heart  and 
on  her  lips,  that  God  would  relieve  their  need  and 
that  some  one  would  tell  them  of  Christ.  In  speak¬ 
ing  to  me  of  her  days  in  Shanghai  and  of  the  sights 
that  she  had  seen  there,  two  things  came  repeat¬ 
edly  to  her  mind,  the  help  given  to  fallen  women 
and  girls  at  ‘‘  The  Door  of  Hope,”  and  the  “  Mis¬ 
sion  to  Rickshaw  Coolies.”  1Tis  last  place  she 


had  not  been  to,  but  hoped  to  go  on  her  return 
to  Shanghai. 

Mrs.  Dixon  had  a  very  keen  sense  of  the  beau¬ 
tiful.  She  noted  all  about  her,  whether  the  line 
of  Peking’s  curving  temple  roofs,  a  bit  of  carving 
about  the  gable,  some  old  vase  in  the  Museum,  or 
a  stretch  of  landscape  before  her.  She  noted  and 
enjoyed  all.  Deeper  than  the  love  of  the  beau¬ 
tiful  and  deeper  than  the  love  of  those  whom  God 
had  given  her  lay  the  love  for  her  Lord.  One 
never  knows  another,  never  knows  how  rightly 
to  estimate  the  worth  of  another  till  he  has  had 
the  fellowship  of  prayer  with  Him.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  last  evening  on  the  boat  when  we  three 
had  a  little  family  prayer  together  in  the  cabin. 
Phere  I  understood  more  deeply  how  her  life 
was  a  prayer  life  and  how  quickly  the  things  on 
her  heart  were  taken  to  Him.  She  prayed  for  the 
Convention,  the  Conference,  then  for  the  coolies 
and  the  burden-bearers,  and  then  prayed  a  second 
time  for  a  young  girl  whom  she  had  met  who 
seemed  not  to  know  God  well.  We  rose  from  our 
knees,  and  as  I  went  back  to  my  cabin,  she  fol¬ 
lowed  with  a  word  of  concern  for  dear  Doctor 
Dixon,  who  had  not  been  very  well  and  who  she 
knew  was  going  into  heavy  work  at  Killing.  Her 
thought  was  always  of  others.  The  last  conscious 
\vord  I  heard  from  her  was  in  reply  to  Doctor 
Dixon’s  saying  he  was  sorry  she  was  not  well. 


rfMKi  v'-'  ^w5t5P'«^v^^S[’*f ■'  *-?2sh»'^  " »  . 

;'  5if'-  ■"■  '^rL‘  •"  ;  '''t'4*  ■„  ■■'■ji  ■  Vw'.  1 


g?:,.  ■■  “’'?,  -i'  i^- 

'■■  '  ■  ‘ -s; ,-*4;:4' ;■: .fftlS 

'm,  if;---  ^  ^ 

■?p?; 


‘i' 

'■V^v 


‘_^v‘  Wifv  ^  *■  ^ 

^  -■■'  '■  ,  J 


n* 


f  '  »^y  ...^'.-  Tg.-sg^l^  .’y  '^?5  .  •■  'nfci  ; '^4 ■"■-■,.*■ 'C’ 

fv^.yiV:  ,t  ^ ^ '4'^SAni  ..«  .  ■  ,-? 

. ‘v.'V^ 


’"'i.*?:  ■%' 


'?¥' 


,  ,.  fyV^^v '  '■'  ....>.^IbH  ,-  > 

fcj  fv! ‘4' U  .  .4;v-t#=^'’- ';3fi -^v  ■■  '  vrf*^i''  V'' ■‘•' 

■•:  XiShi'isaM 


— I  am  glad  it  is  I,  not  you.”  All  the  early 
part  of  her  illness,  while  I  was  with  her,  there 
was  not  a  word  of  complaint,  not  a  moan,  only 
of  gratitude  for  the  little  that  could  be  done  to 
relieve  her. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  heard  a  story  that  I  be¬ 
lieve  is  true.  We  have  all  heard  of  Feng  Yu 
Hsiang,  General  Feng,  the  Christian  general.  We 
know  of  his  power  with  God,  of  his  Christian  tes¬ 
timony.  He  has  been  a  Christian  only  a  few 
years,  but  away  back  twenty-two  years  ago,  dur¬ 
ing  the  Boxer  times,  his  conversion  began.  He 
was  only  a  hanger-on  of  the  soldiers,  and  one  day 
in  Pao  Ting  Fu  he  saw  a  foreign  missionary  car¬ 
ried  out  from  the  school  and  told  that  she  was  to 
be  beheaded.  She  plead  for  her  pupils,  gladly 
laying  down  her  life  if  only  they  could  be  spared. 
He  marvelled  at  her  bravery.  He  wondered  that 
she  did  not  speak  of  herself.  For  years  the  inci¬ 
dent  stayed  in  his  mind  and  heart.  When  later 
he  became  a  Christian,  as  the  Way  was  explained 
to  him,  he  knew  that  away  back  there  the  Lord 
had  laid  his  hand  on  him  for  salvation.  I  believe 
that  there  are  those  in  this  country  who  will  have 
heard  of  dear  Mrs.  Dixon  and  of  her  life  laid 
down  out  here,  that  a  message  of  Him  may  be 
given,  who  will  some  day  point  back  to  this  hour 
and  to  this  summer  as  the  time  when  the  Lord 
called  them,  and  they  were  wooed  back  to  Him. 


A^I^irf00 

By  Rev.  D.  F.  STAMPS 

Of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 


It  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  speak  of  the  work 
which  probably  was  dearest  to  Mrs.  Dixon’s 
heart  except  her  devotion  to  her  husband.  I  refer 
to  her  work  in  connection  with  the  Woman’s  Mis¬ 
sionary  Union  auxiliary  to  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention. 

We  are  thinking  today  of  the  great  event  that 
has  come  into  the  life  of  this  community.  This 
is  a  great  day  and  will  have  great  influence  upon 
the  mission  work  in  this  important  land.  Fur¬ 
thermore,  it  will  be  felt  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
But  the  event  of  this  day  is  not  the  only  big  thing 
which  she  had  a  part  in  making.  In  the  early  part 
of  her  husband’s  ministry  she  saw  the  need  and 
place  of  woman’s  work  in  the  life  of  the  churches, 
and  so  set  herself  to  the  task  of  creating  interest 
among  the  people  and  especially  the  women  on 
this  timely  work  of  the  women. 

Doctor  Dixon  was  pastor  of  the  Immanuel 


36 


Baptist  Church,  Baltimore,  at  that  time.  Here 
the  burden  of  the  work  which  the  women  are 
called  to  do  fell  heavily  upon  her  heart,  and  under 
the  guiding  of  the  Holy  Spirit  she  laid  her  appeal 
before  her  husband  and  persuaded  him  to  present 
the  cause  to  the  meeting  of  the  Association.  Doc¬ 
tor  Dixon  made  the  appeal  and  received  an  offer¬ 
ing  which  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  one  hundred  of  which  came  from  one 
member  in  his  own  church.  In  later  years,  after 
the  organization  of  the  Woman’s  Missionary 
Union,  the  fund  of  $150  was  set  aside  as  a  trust 
fund,  not  to  be  drawn  upon.  So  we  can  truly  say 
that  Mrs.  Dixon  was  the  mother  of  the  Woman’s 
Missionary  Union,  speaking  in  human  terms. 

You  may  be  interested  to  know  how  this  or¬ 
ganization  has  grown  since  its  beginning  in  Balti¬ 
more.  I  have  the  report  of  the  woman’s  work 
for  the  past  year  which  came  into  my  hands  a 
few  days  ago.  It  shows  a  marvelous  growth. 
The  various  societies  and  young  people’s  auxil¬ 
iaries  now  number  20,878,  and  the  contributions 
reported  for  the  past  thirty-four  years  from  all 
sources  of  the  woman’s  work  total  the  sum  of 
$14,777,209.20.  The  past  year  alone  shows  that 
over  three  million  dollars  were  raised.  The  be¬ 
ginning  of  such  a  large  work  in  the  kingdom  was 
no  small  effort. 

Doctor  Dixon  was  called  to  serve  in  other 


fields,  and  his  devoted  wife  was  happy  to  follow 
the  leading  of  the  Lord  in  their  places  of  service. 
After  years  of  pastoral  work  in  the  North  and 
the  eight  memorable  years  at  the  Metropolitan 
Tabernacle  in  London,  Mrs.  Dixon  was  greatly 
pleased  at  the  opportunity  afforded  by  their  re¬ 
turn  to  Baltimore,  to  do  service  for  the  women  of 
the  South.  It  was  her  deep  purpose  in  the  trip 
to  China  and  the  Far  East  with  her  husband  to 
study  the  woman’s  work  out  here  and  the  mission 
problems,  so  that  she  might  go  back  home  pre¬ 
pared  to  render  helpful  service  to  the  organiza¬ 
tion  which  was  conceived  and  born  in  her  own 
heart  years  ago.  This  spirit  to  me  is  the  mark 
of  a  noble  servant  of  Christ.  She  was  always 
young  in  spirit  and  service,  and  looking  for¬ 
ward  to  the  great  fields  that  are  white  unto 
harvest.  She  was  called  up  higher  while  in 
the  midst  of  service  here  below.  What  a  happy 
transition ! 

Please  permit  me  to  say  a  word  further  about 
Mrs.  Dixon.  As  the  former  speakers  have  said, 
she  was  retiring  in  her  work,  and  deeply  devoted 
to  her  husband  in  his  ministry.  The  Lord  di¬ 
rected  her  life  and  gave  her  the  faculty  to  see  the 
great  power  of  two  lives  truly  united  and  set  on 
the  same  tasks.  Tier  cowork  with  Doctor  Dixon 
made  his  efforts  richer,  and  she  found  herself 
anew  in  this  noble  devotion. 


38 


At  the  time  Doctor  Dixon  was  preparing  to 
leave  London,  he  received  many  offers  from  lec¬ 
ture  bureaus,  and  chautauquas,  and  from  other 
sources  which  were  very  flattering  from  the  view¬ 
point  of  money,  but  Mrs.  Dixon  did  not  feel  that 
it  was  wise  for  her  husband  to  yield  to  these  mer¬ 
cenary  lurings.  So  she  made  it  easier  for  her 
husband  to  decide  to  remain  in  the  pastoral  ser¬ 
vice.  Her  life  was  deeply  consecrated  to  her 
Lord. 

The  one  great  thing  that  seems  to  stand  out 
clearly  in  the  life  of  this  beloved  saint  is  felt  and 
seen  in  her  loyalty  to  the  work  of  her  worthy 
husband.  At  the  very  last  day  in  Killing  her 
fatal  illness  did  not  prevent  her  husband  from 
speaking  a  message  for  the  Christ.  Her  prayer 
first  was  not  to  hinder,  and  afterwards  she  prayed 
to  be  a  positive  help  in  her  visit  to  China.  This 
noble  prayer  was  answered  in  her  going  to  be 
with  Jesus  in  service,  here  in  Killing,  August  6, 
1922. 

The  whole  life  of  Mrs.  Dixon  seemed  to  point 
to  this  day.  Her  simple  and  deep  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus  as  Saviour  and  Lord  is  refreshing  and  a 
testimony  to  grip  other  hearts.  Her  last  talk  was 
made  from  Paul’s  letter  to  Titus,  3  :  4-8.  In 
these  verses  she  found  the  whole  of  the  gospel 
message  in  simple  form,  and  often  used  it  as  the 
foundation  for  her  talks  to  missionary  societies. 


39 


I 


This  Scripture  becomes  real  life  and  testimony 
in  the  events  of  this  day. 

Doctor  Dixon  spoke  this  morning  on  the  sub¬ 
ject:  “Why  I  Am  a  Christian,  from  the  Anti¬ 
christian  View-point,  or  the  Reasonableness  of 
Christianity.”  It  was  a  masterful  sermon!  Dur¬ 
ing  the  preaching  of  this  sermon  this  noble 
woman  passed  to  her  reward  with  Christ.  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  is  the  greatest  living  testi¬ 
mony  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel  that  I  have  ever 
felt  or  seen.  Here  in  Ruling  with  so  many  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  Chinese  Christians,  in  the  center  of 
China  at  a  time  when  missionary  methods  and 
plans  are  taking  new  form,  when  a  nation  is  being 
born — here,  I  say,  we  have  witnessed  the  great¬ 
est  living  testimony  to  the  Christ  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  What  is  this  testimony?  It  is  simply  this, 
that  Christ  is  what  the  Bible  claims  Him  to  be, 
the  Son  of  God  who  came  to  earth  and  died  to 
save  men  from  sin.  It  is  by  the  grace  of  God 
that  we  are  saved,  and  there  is  salvation  in  no 
other  name. 

The  setting  of  this  day’s  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  the  Bible,  the  authority  of  Jesus,  and  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  nothing  less  than  the  hand 
of  God  writing  living  words  to  us  who  are  here, 
and  to  this  whole  nation.  It  is  certainly  not  the 
planning  of  man,  or  the  coincidence  of  events. 
Mrs.  Dixon’s  towering  faith  in  the  Bible  as  God’s 


40 


revelation  to  men,  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Father’s 
only  begotten  Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the 
Leader  and  Comforter,  together  with  her  hus¬ 
band’s  convincing  words  as  to  belief  and  trust 
in  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  the  sealing 
fact  of  her  death  in  the  midst  of  the  sermon,  all 
work  together  as  irrefutable  and  challenging  wit¬ 
ness  to  the  salvation  in  Jesus  Christ.  What  faith ! 
What  peace  and  reconciliation !  It  is  found  only 
in  this  spiritual  conception  of  Jesus  as  Lord. 


41 


AJihrpaB 

By  Dr.  a.  C.  DIXON 


As  I  lay  awake  in  the  early  morning,  my  mind 
ran  back  into  the  past,  and  the  impression  came 
to  me  that  it  might  be  fitting  for  me  to  tell  you 
something  of  her  for  whom  you  have  been  pray¬ 
ing  so  sympathetically  and  earnestly. 

Her  maiden  name  was  Mary  Faison;  of 
h^rench  Huguenot  descent,  an  ancestry  in  which 
she  took  great  delight.  She  was  born  on  a  South¬ 
ern  plantation  in  North  Carolina  amid  quiet, 
rural,  and  cultured  surroundings.  Her  father 
was  a  godly  deacon  in  a  Baptist  church,  and 
her  mother  a  saintly  woman,  in  perfect  sympathy 
with  her  husband  in  the  Master’s  work.  Her 
tutor  in  girlhood  was  Dr.  William  Hooper,  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  in  America,  who  lived 
in  the  Faison  home  and  cultivated  in  the  children 
a  love  for  the  best  literature  and  placed  before 
them  high  ideals  in  life. 

Mary  Faison  graduated  from  the  Woman’s 
College  in  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  of  which  Dr. 


42 


DeBerniere  Hooper,  son  of  Dr.  William  Hooper, 
was  president,  and  then,  after  the  Southern  style, 
took  a  course  in  a  Baltimore  college,  the  object 
of  which  was  to  fit  young  ladies  for  entering 
society. 

But  the  ideals  of  worldly  society  had  no  attrac¬ 
tion  for  her,  and,  after  returning  home,  she  soon 
went  to  her  pastor,  when  there  was  no  special 
revival  in  progress,  and  told  him  that  she  wished 
to  make  public  confession  of  Christ  by  being  bap¬ 
tized  and  uniting  with  the  church.  Some  of  her 
worldly  friends  were  surprised,  if  not  shocked,  by 
this,  but  they  knew  that  she  was  sincere  and  re¬ 
spected  her  convictions.  This  event  marked  the 
beginning  of  a  life  of  consecration,  beautiful  in  its 
single  purpose  of  whole-hearted  devotion  to 
Christ  and  his  cause. 

In  her  early  womanhood  Mary  Faison  became 
a  semi-invalid  through  lifting  a  too  heavy  weight, 
and  severe  bodily  pain  was  her  daily  portion. 
:\fter  trying  all  physicians  within  reach  and  get¬ 
ting  no  relief,  she  prayerfully  decided  to  accept 
the  limitations  of  her  condition  and  devote  her¬ 
self,  as  best  she  could,  to  teaching,  beginning  with 
her  two  little  brothers  at  home.  From  the  day  of 
that  decision  she  began  to  improve  in  health,  and 
in  a  short  time  was  completely  restored.  With 
this  restored  health  she  began  with  great  enthu¬ 
siasm  to  prepare  herself  for  her  life-work  as  a 


43 


teacher;  and  the  first  time  I  ever  met  her  was 
while  she  was  on  her  way  to  a  summer  normal 
training-school  at  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina, 
the  seat  of  the  State  University,  where  I  was  at 
the  time  pastor  of  the  Village  Baptist  Church. 

The  day  was  hot,  and  a  company  of  us  were 
on  a  stage-coach  rattling  over  a  rather  rough 
road.  The  question  was  raised  among  the  pas¬ 
sengers  as  to  whether  women  ought  to  speak  in 
public,  suggested  by  the  fact  that  a  noted  woman 
lecturer  from  New  York  was  to  be  among  the 
teachers  of  the  normal  training-school.  Among 
the  debaters  of  this  question  was  a  young  woman, 
whose  quiet,  yet  vivacious  manner  and  intelligent 
reasons  attracted  my  attention.  She  seemed  to 
have  a  mind  of  her  own  with  the  courage  of  her 
convictions;  and,  when  I  looked  into  her  face, 
there  was  a  beauty  with  a  charm  of  personality 
that  fascinated  me.  As  I  cultivated  her  acquain¬ 
tance  during  the  weeks  that  followed,  I  found 
that  she  was  more  conversant  than  I  with  the  best 
literature,  and  her  ideals  of  life  were  deeply 
spiritual.  She  loved  Christ,  the  Bible,  and  the 
church. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  decide  that  she  was 
just  the  one  I  needed  for  a  wife,  and,  after  her 
return  home,  I  went  down  to  see  her  with  a  pro¬ 
posal  of  marriage,  which  was  promptly  rejected, 
because  it  seemed  to  interfere  with  her  recent  vow 


44 


of  consecration  to  the  work  of  teaching.  How¬ 
ever,  I  was  encouraged  by  her  permission  to  visit 
her  again  some  time,  should  I  feel  inclined  to  do 
so ;  and,  after  several  visits,  I  was  one  day  made 
very  happy  by  her  consent  to  become  my  wife. 

I  believe  she  did  so  because  she  became  convinced 
that  she  might  serve  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  better 
as  the  wife  of  a  preacher  whom  she  had  learned 
to  love  and  trust,  than  as  a  teacher. 

While  on  our  bridal  tour  through  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  North  Carolina  she  said  to  me  in  a  spirit 
of  happy  banter,  “  I  expect  to  see  you  in  Spur¬ 
geon’s  pulpit  some  day.”  But  when  this  pleasant 
remark  proved  to  be  a  prophecy,  and  the  call  had 
come  to  the  pastorate  of  the  London  Tabernacle, 
she  shrank  from  the  heavy  weight  of  responsi¬ 
bility  which  it  would  impose  upon  both  of  us,  and 
was  very  loath  to  leave  our  comfortable  home  in 
Chicago.  But  she  said,  Husband,  I  promised 
God  that  I  would  never  try  to  influence  you  as  to 
your  fields  of  labor,  and  I  am  ready  to  go  with 
you  anywhere  in  the  world.” 

She  believed  that,  as  pastor’s  wife,  she  ought 
not  to  be  at  the  head  of  any  organization  in  the 
church,  but  belong  to  all  and  thus  seek  to  help  all. 
The  great  wisdom  of  this  became  very  apparent. 
Her  life  motto  was  ‘‘  Always  help  and  never 
HINDER,”  and  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  through  these  more  than  forty  years  in  which 


47 


there  were  many  testings  she  lived  up  to  that 
motto  without  a  single  exception.  She  always 
helped  and  never  hindered.  If  she  ever  had  an 
enemy,  I  never  heard  of  it.  The  poor  and  the 
rich,  the  old  and  the  young,  the  servant  and  the 
mistress  were  all  her  friends.  She  was  modest 
as  the  violet,  and,  when  urged  to  make  herself 
prominent,  she  would  laughingly  reply,  “  My 
only  ambition  is  to  be  the  unknown  wife  of  a 
well-known  husband,”  declaring  that  her  ideal 
woman  was  described  by  Solomon  in  Proverbs 
31  :  23,  Her  husband  is  known  in  the  gates.” 
Pure  in  thought  and  life  as  the  falling  snow, 
vulgarity  and  coarseness  could  not  live  in  her 
presence.  Her  faith  in  Christ  and  the  Bible  was 
so  simple  and  stedfast  that  she  could  not  under¬ 
stand,  and  you  could  not  explain  to  her,  how  any 
one  who  claims  to  be  a  Christian  could  call  in 
question  any  fundamental  of  the  Christian  faith. 
Her  breath  was  prayer  and  praise.  She  was  a 
lover  of  learning  and  spent  many  of  her  spare 
hours  in  the  British  Museum  studying  the  relics 
of  antiquity  and  listening  to  lectures  on  archaeol¬ 
ogy.  She  was  a  little  encyclopedia  on  flowers, 
specially  the  wildflowers  of  the  woods  and  the 
wayside.  Her  favorite  poem  was  “  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost  ”  and  “  Paradise  Regained  ” ;  a 
quaint  little  copy  of  which  she  carried  with  her 
on  our  honeymoon,  which  we  read  together  and 


48 


agreed  that  the  latter  half  was  being  fulfilled  in 
our  lives.  Her  favorite  religious  author  was 
Andrew  Murray,  one  of  whose  little  volumes, 
‘‘  The  Spirit  of  Christ,”  she  was  carrying  through 
China.  Years  ago  at  Northfield  she  received 
great  blessing  from  his  preaching. 

Her  favorite  book  of  sermons  was  “  Our  Best 
Moods,”  by  Dr.  David  Gregg,  a  copy  of  which 
she  had  well-nigh  worn  out  by  much  reading  and 
lending.  Her  ideal  American  citizen  was  Theo¬ 
dore  Roosevelt,  because  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
doing  things. 

She  was  a  lover  of  good  people,  in  all  our  pas¬ 
torates  seeking  the  fellowship  and  comradeship 
only  of  those  with  high  spiritual  ideals.  She 
reveled  in  the  deep  things  of  God  and  sought  to 
entice  all  she  influenced  to  a  higher  level  of  spir¬ 
itual  experience,  though  she  never  professed  for 
herself  any  high  experience.  If  she  had  a  fault, 
it  was  self-depreciation,  and  her  husband  was 
such  a  part  of  her  very  being  that  any  imperfec¬ 
tion  of  his  gave  her  no  little  pain,  and  her  gentle, 
loving,  tactful  criticisms  were  of  more  value  to 
him  than  all  the  instruction  he  received  in  college 
and  theological  seminary.  The  highest  ambi¬ 
tion  of  his  life  today  is  to  love  her  Ghrist  as  she 
loved  Him,  believe  her  Bible  as  she  believed  it, 
and  be  filled  by  the  Holy  Spirit  whom  she  trusted 
for  guidance  and  power. 


49 


®rtbutf0  bg  OIl|rtaltana 


At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Chinese  Conference 
a  man  stood  to  pray.  Many  had  spoken  their 
thanks  for  the  Conference,  for  the  different  mes¬ 
sages  that  had  been  given,  and  many  had  spoken 
of  the  “  meat  ”  they  had  had  through  the  ministry 
of  Doctor  Dixon.  (Anything  less  than  “  meat  ”  ' 
the  Chinese  refer  to  as  ‘‘bones,”  lacking  life.) 
This  man  thanked  the  Father  for  “  the  grace  of 
God  which  is  upon  Doctor  Dixon.  He  has  taken  '• 
his  sorrow  and  has  wrapped  it  up  in  Jesus.  We 
have  seen  the  sorrow,  but  when  we  have  seen  the 
sorrow  we  have  had  a  sight  of  Jesus.  It  takes 
grace  to  reveal  Jesus.  He  has  taken  his  sorrow i 
and  has  given  it  into  the  hands  of  Jesus,  and 
when  we  have  seen  the  sorrow  we  have  seen  the 
power  of  Jesus  to  keep.  It  takes  grace  to  reveal 
the  power  of  God.  We  have  seen  the  face  of 
Jesus  and  the  power  of  Jesus  through  the  grace 
of  God  upon  this  servant  of  His.” 

.\  very  successful  pastor  stood  to  say:  “A 
disciple  should  not  have  jealousy  in  his  heart.  I 
have  jealousy.  1  think  it  is  a  good  kind  of 


50 


THE  GRAVE 


Covered  With  Wildfiowers 


•mm 


jealousy.  1  am  jealous  of  the  power  of  message 
through  Doctor  Dixon,  but  I  have  a  bigger 
jealousy  in  my  heart.  I  am  jealous  of  the  peace 
that  he  has  shown  when  God  has  left  him  without 
his  wife  in  a  strange  land.  If  Doctor  Dixon’s 
messages  are  true  and  if  the  Bible  is  true,  God 
will  heal  my  troubles  as  he  has  his,  and  I  will 
have  peace  because  I  have  God.” 

Another  man  said :  “  When  my  wife  died  I 
revealed  no  miracle  of  God  through  my  message 
or  in  my  face.  I  found  the  Cross  hard  to  preach. 
X^ow  I  know  why.  All  suffering  seemed  cruel  of 
God.  N^ow  I  know  it  is  the  love  of  God.” 

One  of  the  women  who  spoke  used  a  very 
dear  -  to  -  the  -  Chinese  -  heart  expression  :  “  Mrs. 
Dixon  has  by  her  death  and  her  burial  in  this 
country  of  ours  ‘  chiming  ’  among  our  people. 
She  has  written  her  name  among  our  people  as 
a  citizen  in  the  heavenly  kingdom.  She  is  one 
with  the  Chinese  members  of  the  Body  of  Christ. 
We  know  she  loves  us  because  we  can  see  that 
he  does.  Who  but  one  who  loves  would  serve  as 
he  does  ?  ” 

A  missionary  was  overheard  to  say:  “  Why,  it 
seems  as  though  we  all  knew  Mrs.  Dixon.  I  can  t 
believe  we  haven’t  seen  her.  She  and  Doctor 
Dixon  belong  to  Killing,  as  though  they  had 
always  been  here.” 

From  one  and  another  the  word  has  come  of 


how  marvelously  (loci  has  honored  the  testimony 
that  has  been  given  and  the  message  that  has  been 
lived  before  us  here  at  Killing,  in  individual  lives. 
I  have  written  these  above,  just  to  give  you  a  bit 
of  what  the  Chinese  friends  would  have  loved  to 
say  directly  to  you  had  it  been  possible. 


54 


iExtrarla  from  Idrttrra  of 
(EonJiolrnrr 

It  seems  to  us  ehildren  very  l)eautifiil  that 
Mother  rests  in  China  among'  the  missionaries 
she  loved  and  helped  all  her  life.  I  know  of  no 
more  appropriate  spot  for  her  last  resting-place. 
It  seems  to  me  one  that  she  would  have  chosen 
herself.  And  there  will  always  be  friends  near 
by.  We  must  return  there  some  day.  It  will 
mean  much  to  the  grandchildren  to  think  of 
Grandma  being  with  the  missionaries. 

She  was  always  such  an  understanding  person 
and  so  easy  to  confide  in.  I  loved  her  simplicity 
and  genuineness.  I  have  never  known  any  one 
to  embody  these  virtues  more  perfectly. 

She  was  a  Alother  of  the  old  school,  and  theie 
is  no  better  kind. 

Hers  was  a  magnificent  life,  unworldly  in  its 
spiritual  beauty,  and  death  to  her  could  only  bring 
peace  with  victory. 


55 


In  her  death  no  less  than  in  her  life,  Mrs. 
Dixon  has  borne  a  lasting  witness  to  the  love  of 
God  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus;  and  this  testimony 
will  bear  fruit  in  the  future  life  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  China  as  our  Chinese  friends  and  we 
come  more  fully  to  appreciate  its  true  meaning. 

No  words  that  I  can  use  can  begin  to  express 
our  appreciation  of  the  worth  and  work  of  your 
sainted  and  now  glorified  wife.  Wherever  she 
was,  her  presence  was  a  benediction. 

None  knew  her  but  to  love  her, 

None  named  her  but  to  praise. 

She  was  such  a  dear  child  of  God,  and  both  my 
wife  and  I  have  been  greatly  helped  by  her  beau¬ 
tiful  character  and  sympathy. 

She  was  a  particularly  lovable  as  well  as  strong 
character. 

She  was  so  gracious,  so  wise,  so  unassumingly 
godly  and  good.  And  now  she  is  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better. 

One  of  the  most  inspiring  expressions  for  our 
work  out  here  that  I  ever  heard  was  spoken  by 
your  wife  in  a  conversation  at  the  Missionary 
Home  in  Shanghai. 


56 


Mrs.  Dixon  was  a  remarkable  woman.  1  had 
a  very  deep  and  special  kind  of  admiration  for 
her.  She  was  sincerity  itself.  Her  goodness  was 
so  true,  so  honest,  so  direct  that  I  always  stood 
almost  in  awe  of  her,  as  of  any  one  incapable  of 
insincerity.  Her  probity  would  have  been  severe, 
if  she  had  not  been  so  kind  and  sweet.  Then  she 
had  such  extraordinary  common  sense.  Her 
judgment  was  intuitively  correct,  her  counsel 
always  valuable.  She  could  have  sat  for  the  por¬ 
trait  of  Proverbs  31  :  10-31.  She  was  the  bal¬ 
ance-wheel  of  the  watch,  the  governor  of  the 
engine.  Sensible  and  sensitive,  sweet  yet  strong, 
spiritual  yet  practical,  loving  yet  firm,  retiring 
and  thoughtful,  cherishing  her  own,  yet  unself¬ 
ishly  giving  them  to  the  service  of  others.  She 
was  a  rare,  remarkable,  loving  woman.  Her 
memory  remains  a  choice  heritage. 

I  am  sure  there  never  lived  a  finer  character 
than  she  was,  and  the  most  outstanding  feature  in 
her  character  was  that  she  was  just  to  every  one, 
whether  she  admired  them  or  not.  She  was  sorry 
for  those  who  had  gone  wrong,  and  did  not  criti¬ 
cize  them. 


57 


A  from  (Soil 

Tribute  by  Mrs.  W.  R.  NIMMO 


Apprucichiiig  a  letter-box  one  inorning  many 
years  ago  in  the  eity  of  Baltimore  I  came  face  to 
face  with  the  wife  of  the  new  pastor  of  the  then 
Immanuel  Baptist  Church,  Rev.  A.  C.  Dixon, 
hlie  letters  went  into  the  box  together,  followed 
by  a  laughing  recognition  and  a  short  conversa¬ 
tion.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  friend¬ 
ship  as  true  and  tender  as  this  earth  ever 
knew — a  friendship  that  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  blessings  of  my  life.  Circum¬ 
stances  often*  separated  us,  but  the  heart-tie 
held,  and  love  for  Mrs.  Dixon  became  as  natural 
as  breathing. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Woman’s  Missionary 
Union  in  Maryland,  which  Mrs.  Dixon  was  so 
largely  instrumental  in  organizing,  we  wrought 
together.  Her  deep  interest  in  missions  and  her 
love  for  missionaries  were  an  inspiration  in  my 
life  and  in  the  lives  of  many  others.  Anything  I 
have  been  able  to  do  in  carrying  forward  the 


58 


A  SUNSET 

From  Kuling  Mountain,  China 


Great  Commission  I  owe,  under  God,  to  her 
influence. 

In  the  many  experiences  which  came  into  her 
life  her  Christian  courage  never  failed.  These 
experiences  became  as  open  doors  through  which 
she  passed  into  the  sorrows  of  other  lives  and 
comforted  them  by  the  comfort  wherewith  ‘  she 
was  ’  comforted  of  God.”  Once  on  speaking  to 
her  of  prayer  she  said,  “  My  every  breath  is  a 
prayer.’  At  another  time  when  we  were  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  weariness  of  sleepless  hours  she  said, 
“  When  I  cannot  sleep  I  use  the  time  praying  for 
my  family,  friends,  and  the  missionaries.”  From 
such  intimacy  with  Christ  came  Mrs.  Dixon  ’s  gift 
of  consolation  in  the  sorrows  of  others.  Mrs. 
Dixon  went  home  from  among  the  missionaries 
she  loved  so  well,  and  it  might  be  said  of  China 
that 

She  made  the  grass  greener  even  here  .  .  .  with  her  grave. 

In  the  lives  of  those  who  knew  Mrs.  Dixon  well 
she  has  left  the  memory  of  a  stedfast  Christian 
faith,  of  great  personal  charm,  and  of  a  cultured 
mind.  Added  to  these  qualities  was  the  saving 
grace  of  a  keen  sense  of  humor  and  one  of  the 
merriest  laughs  I  ever  heard.  Her  life  was  good 
and  strong  and  true  and  has  fitted  her  for  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 


Lord,  grant  me  if  thou  wilt 
To  slip  away 
As  slips  the  night 
Into  the  dawning  day. 

So  soft 

That  e’en  the  watchers,  watching 
Cannot  say 
Here  ends  the  night 
And  here  begins  the  day  ; 

But  only  know 
The  night’s  thy  night. 

The  day  thy  day. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


Form  No.  A-368,  Rev.  8/95 


